Australia annihilated the Indian bowlers in the first session tomake 338/4 in 50 overs and then demolished the top order of theIndian batting line up, to bowl them out for 245 in 45 overs.Australia thus levelled the series 2-2 after the fourth ODIplayed at Indira Priyadarshini Municipal Corporation Stadium,Vishakapatnam on Tuesday.
In tough times, the Aussies really back their ability. SteveWaugh is a very good example of the great Australian spirit. Hehas backed Ricky Ponting and Shane Warne in spite of theircontinued failure. Today, Ponting (101) and Warne (3/39) camegood when it really mattered. The captain himself played awhirlwind 35 off 24 balls and then came back to bowl an inspiredspell to pick up 3/29.
In contrast, Sourav Ganguly is a lost man with the bat. He hastried all the tricks in his bag to get out of this wretched runof poor form. Ganguly has been switching batting positions andtoday he opened the innings with Sachin Tendulkar. The Aussiesare not the kind who give a free meal to a struggling opponent.They are a bunch of tough professionals and today they hadGanguly tied up in a knot for 36 balls while he made nine runs.He then pushed an easy catch to Warne at short cover off Bracken.
Sachin Tendulkar had the crowd on their feet cheering and dancingto the 11 sweetly timed fours he hit. He played a quick-fire 62off just 38 balls before slicing a catch to Waugh off the bowlingof Bracken. There was a thunderous roar in the stadium whenTendulkar smashed McGrath for three consecutive boundaries in the11th over.
Warne sent a quick one down the leg side to VVS Laxman (11) andGilchrist effected a lightning stumping. It was the leg spinner'swicket number 250 in ODIs, the first for an Australian bowler.Rahul Dravid (7) gave an easy return catch to Warne, who wasbowling with a good rhythm.
Steve Waugh the forgotten all-rounder in the Australian sidebrought himself into the attack and reaped success in his secondover, Hemang Badani (25) tapped one straight to Warne at shortcover. Waugh was making use of the stiff wind that was blowingacross the ground. He made a ball move away from Robin Singh (16)and the edge was well taken by Gilchrist.
The Australian victory was just a formality and it came about inthe 45th over. Harbhajan Singh (46) and Zaheer Khan threw theirbat in gay abandon against the bowling of Michael Bevan, as sixesand fours came in a hurry. Waugh was holding back his ace bowlersMcGrath and Bracken. Zaheer greeted McGrath with a pull over themid-wicket ropes for a massive six and a powerful straight drivefor four. Harbhajan kept slogging till Shane Lee took the catchat square leg off McGrath.
Earlier, Waugh won the toss and decided to bat first. Gilchrist(6) struck a four and was immediately caught behind off thebowling of Srinath in the first over of the day.
Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting applied themselves brilliantlyto put together a partnership of 219 off 215 balls. Hayden wasthe first to get to the hundred, his maiden ODI century. Pontingwho has been sleepwalking through a bad spell of failure, woke uptoday to bat at his very best. Steve Waugh has had big faith inthis Tasmanian's ability with the bat and Ponting repaid hiscaptain with a brilliant 101 off 110 balls, unleashing his fullrepertoire of strokes; striking 13 strokes past the ropes.
Matthew Lawrence Hayden, the big man from Queensland has walkedwith his head held high all through this tour. He has made it ahabit to score runs against the Indian attack. Hayden walked downthe track and lofted Ganguly over the mid-wicket fence for amassive six and then later swung Harbhajan Singh over long legfor a huge six. He made 111 runs off 112 balls with the help ofthe two towering sixes and nine boundaries before being stumpedby Dahiya off the bowling of Harbhajan Singh.
Australia were 246/3 in the 40th over and had two new batsmen inthe middle, who are the masters of playing in the final overs,Michael Bevan and Steve Waugh. Running like lightning between thewickets and smashing the odd boundary, they kept the scoreboardmoving at a rapid pace. Waugh's knock is never complete withouthis legendary 'heave-ho'. Today his heave-ho off Srinath flewstraight over the bowler's head for a six. Waugh made a quickfire 35 off just 24 balls with the help of three boundaries and asix while adding 66 runs in 7.5 overs with Bevan.
Shane Lee, making his first appearance in India, struck threefours in the last over from Zaheer Khan. He was at the crease forjust nine minutes to make 25 runs off 11 balls to fire theAustralia total to 338/4. The outcome in the final match in Goaon Friday will decide the winners of the ODI Series.Scorecard
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